Reconstructing Research About Close Relationships in Old Age: A Contribution From Critical Gerontology

Social studies on close relationship (CR) in old age of Western societies present the heterosexual couple as the dominant model of the late CR. Researchers focus mainly on couples in long-term relationships living in a common household. But in Germany, for example, only about half of all men and women between the ages of 65 and 75 live in a marital heterosexual relationship (Statistisches Bundesamt, 2016). In addition to the increasing change in the bonding behavior of older people, a differentiated picture of CR is already emerging. Accordingly, there are a large number of people for whom other forms of living together in old age are important. In population statistics (multiple) re-married, same-gender or non-marital relationship models in old age are underrepresented although they are particularly relevant in modern societies, for example in East Germany and for younger generations. This article is a critical reflection on the heteronormative view of late-life CR in the current gerontological research that leads to marginalization of older people whose CR does not correspond to this ideal. Heteronormativity refers to the “assumption of two clearly distinguishable, mutually exclusive sexes” according to which heterosexual desire is regarded as natural and normal (Hartmann and Klesse, 2007, p. 7). With a de-constructionist approach the heteronormative foundation of scientific categories can be demonstrated using the example of two gerontological studies. A normativity-critical research practice (Katz, 1996; Estes, 2011, p. 314) can help to make the diversity of late CR visible and support realistic empirical findings in gerontology

Preliminary assessment of the imaging capability of the YAP-(S)PET small animal scanner in neuroscience

The new and fully engineered version of the YAP–(S)PET small animal scanner has been tested at the University of Mainz for preliminary assessment of its imaging capability for studies related to neuropharmacology and psychiatry. The main feature of the scanner is the capability to combine PET and SPECT techniques. It allows the development of new and interesting protocols for the investigation of many biological phenomena, more effectively than with PET or SPECT modalities alone. The scanner is made up of four detector heads, each one composed of a 4 � 4c m 2 of YAlO3:Ce (or YAP:Ce) matrix, and has a field of view (FOV) of 4 cm axially � 4c m + transaxially. In PET mode, the volume resolution is less than 8 mm 3 and is nearly constant over the whole FOV, while the sensitivity is about 2%. The SPECT performance is not so good, due to the presence of the multi-hole lead collimator in front of each head. Nevertheless, the YAP–PET scanner offers excellent resolution and sensitivity for performing on the availability of D2-like dopamine receptors on mice and rats in both PET and SPECT modalities

COVID-19 crisis management of German ICU clinicians in leadership – a metaphor analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic coincided with an already long-standing crisis in health systems around the world characterized by economic pressure and increasing staff shortage. “Crisis” became a global metaphor to convey collective experiences of the COVID-19 threat. Little is known on how crisis metaphors influence thought and speech on crisis management and the challenging staff situation of intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians in leadership positions and how they act. Therefore, we were interested in (1) which metaphorical concepts ICU clinicians in leadership use to express experiences and strategies in dealing with coinciding crises, (2) how these change over time, and (3) how metaphors in speech reveal self-images of crisis management. We conducted a systematic metaphor analysis focusing on data from three participants of a qualitative interview study with twenty-four healthcare professionals in ICUs in Germany. The participants were interviewed at two time points between April 2020 and March 2021. We identified and reconstructed metaphorical concepts of three interviewees (ICU clinicians in leadership) with regard to the pandemic management, and developed a typology based on the dimensions of mood, modus operandi, location, and scope. The typology consists of eight self-images (protagonists) for the crisis management of ICU clinicians in leadership, such as the figure of the soldier (“to unite everyone behind this flag”), the distributor (“sometimes it is a crazy patchwork [wahnsinniges Gestückel]”) or the critic (“we are the fool for everything”). They embody different qualities of a leader and refer to intra- and inter-role conflicts within multiple crisis conditions. Metaphor analysis reveals different self-images of ICU leadership clinicians in relation to crisis management. This illustrates that thinking and perceptions of crisis management may strongly differ between and within leaders and may change over the course of crises. Our findings highlight the need both to improve knowledge on challenges associated with leadership in crises and preparedness, and to support clinicians in their leadership by recognizing and addressing differences and changes in leaders’ self-image

Distinct mechanisms eliminate mother and daughter centrioles in meiosis of starfish oocytes

Centriole elimination is an essential process that occurs in female meiosis of metazoa to reset centriole number in the zygote at fertilization. How centrioles are eliminated remains poorly understood. Here we visualize the entire elimination process live in starfish oocytes. Using specific fluorescent markers, we demonstrate that the two older, mother centrioles are selectively removed from the oocyte by extrusion into polar bodies. We show that this requires specific positioning of the second meiotic spindle, achieved by dynein-driven transport, and anchorage of the mother centriole to the plasma membrane via mother-specific appendages. In contrast, the single daughter centriole remaining in the egg is eliminated before the first embryonic cleavage. We demonstrate that these distinct elimination mechanisms are necessary because if mother centrioles are artificially retained, they cannot be inactivated, resulting in multipolar zygotic spindles. Thus, our findings reveal a dual mechanism to eliminate centrioles: mothers are physically removed, whereas daughters are eliminated in the cytoplasm, preparing the egg for fertilization.European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL)- EMBL International PhD Program; Laura and Arthur Colwin Endowed Summer Research Fellowship; Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft grant: (MU1423/4-1)

Acoustic sequences in non-human animals: a tutorial review and prospectus.

Animal acoustic communication often takes the form of complex sequences, made up of multiple distinct acoustic units. Apart from the well-known example of birdsong, other animals such as insects, amphibians, and mammals (including bats, rodents, primates, and cetaceans) also generate complex acoustic sequences. Occasionally, such as with birdsong, the adaptive role of these sequences seems clear (e.g. mate attraction and territorial defence). More often however, researchers have only begun to characterise - let alone understand - the significance and meaning of acoustic sequences. Hypotheses abound, but there is little agreement as to how sequences should be defined and analysed. Our review aims to outline suitable methods for testing these hypotheses, and to describe the major limitations to our current and near-future knowledge on questions of acoustic sequences. This review and prospectus is the result of a collaborative effort between 43 scientists from the fields of animal behaviour, ecology and evolution, signal processing, machine learning, quantitative linguistics, and information theory, who gathered for a 2013 workshop entitled, 'Analysing vocal sequences in animals'. Our goal is to present not just a review of the state of the art, but to propose a methodological framework that summarises what we suggest are the best practices for research in this field, across taxa and across disciplines. We also provide a tutorial-style introduction to some of the most promising algorithmic approaches for analysing sequences. We divide our review into three sections: identifying the distinct units of an acoustic sequence, describing the different ways that information can be contained within a sequence, and analysing the structure of that sequence. Each of these sections is further subdivided to address the key questions and approaches in that area. We propose a uniform, systematic, and comprehensive approach to studying sequences, with the goal of clarifying research terms used in different fields, and facilitating collaboration and comparative studies. Allowing greater interdisciplinary collaboration will facilitate the investigation of many important questions in the evolution of communication and sociality.This review was developed at an investigative workshop, “Analyzing Animal Vocal Communication Sequences” that took place on October 21–23 2013 in Knoxville, Tennessee, sponsored by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS). NIMBioS is an Institute sponsored by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture through NSF Awards #EF-0832858 and #DBI-1300426, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. In addition to the authors, Vincent Janik participated in the workshop. D.T.B.’s research is currently supported by NSF DEB-1119660. M.A.B.’s research is currently supported by NSF IOS-0842759 and NIH R01DC009582. M.A.R.’s research is supported by ONR N0001411IP20086 and NOPP (ONR/BOEM) N00014-11-1-0697. S.L.DeR.’s research is supported by the U.S. Office of Naval Research. R.F.-i-C.’s research was supported by the grant BASMATI (TIN2011-27479-C04-03) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. E.C.G.’s research is currently supported by a National Research Council postdoctoral fellowship. E.E.V.’s research is supported by CONACYT, Mexico, award number I010/214/2012.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/brv.1216

Both “illness and temptation of the enemy”: melancholy, the medieval patient and the writings of King Duarte of Portugal (r. 1433–38)

Recent historians have rehabilitated King Duarte of Portugal, previously maligned and neglected, as an astute ruler and philosopher. There is still a tendency, however, to view Duarte as a depressive or a hypochondriac, due to his own description of his melancholy in his advice book, the Loyal Counselor. This paper reassesses Duarte's writings, drawing on key approaches in the history of medicine, such as narrative medicine and the history of the patient. It is important to take Duarte's views on his condition seriously, placing them in the medical and theological contexts of his time and avoiding modern retrospective diagnosis. Duarte's writings can be used to explore the impact of plague, doubt and death on the life of a well-educated and conscientious late-medieval ruler

A community resource for paired genomic and metabolomic data mining

Genomics and metabolomics are widely used to explore specialized metabolite diversity. The Paired Omics Data Platform is a community initiative to systematically document links between metabolome and (meta)genome data, aiding identification of natural product biosynthetic origins and metabolite structures.Peer reviewe

Mitochondrial physiology

As the knowledge base and importance of mitochondrial physiology to evolution, health and disease expands, the necessity for harmonizing the terminology concerning mitochondrial respiratory states and rates has become increasingly apparent. The chemiosmotic theory establishes the mechanism of energy transformation and coupling in oxidative phosphorylation. The unifying concept of the protonmotive force provides the framework for developing a consistent theoretical foundation of mitochondrial physiology and bioenergetics. We follow the latest SI guidelines and those of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) on terminology in physical chemistry, extended by considerations of open systems and thermodynamics of irreversible processes. The concept-driven constructive terminology incorporates the meaning of each quantity and aligns concepts and symbols with the nomenclature of classical bioenergetics. We endeavour to provide a balanced view of mitochondrial respiratory control and a critical discussion on reporting data of mitochondrial respiration in terms of metabolic flows and fluxes. Uniform standards for evaluation of respiratory states and rates will ultimately contribute to reproducibility between laboratories and thus support the development of data repositories of mitochondrial respiratory function in species, tissues, and cells. Clarity of concept and consistency of nomenclature facilitate effective transdisciplinary communication, education, and ultimately further discovery

Changes in health in England, with analysis by English regions and areas of deprivation, 1990-2013: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013.

BACKGROUND: In the Global Burden of Disease Study 2013 (GBD 2013), knowledge about health and its determinants has been integrated into a comparable framework to inform health policy. Outputs of this analysis are relevant to current policy questions in England and elsewhere, particularly on health inequalities. We use GBD 2013 data on mortality and causes of death, and disease and injury incidence and prevalence to analyse the burden of disease and injury in England as a whole, in English regions, and within each English region by deprivation quintile. We also assess disease and injury burden in England attributable to potentially preventable risk factors. England and the English regions are compared with the remaining constituent countries of the UK and with comparable countries in the European Union (EU) and beyond. METHODS: We extracted data from the GBD 2013 to compare mortality, causes of death, years of life lost (YLLs), years lived with a disability (YLDs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in England, the UK, and 18 other countries (the first 15 EU members [apart from the UK] and Australia, Canada, Norway, and the USA [EU15+]). We extended elements of the analysis to English regions, and subregional areas defined by deprivation quintile (deprivation areas). We used data split by the nine English regions (corresponding to the European boundaries of the Nomenclature for Territorial Statistics level 1 [NUTS 1] regions), and by quintile groups within each English region according to deprivation, thereby making 45 regional deprivation areas. Deprivation quintiles were defined by area of residence ranked at national level by Index of Multiple Deprivation score, 2010. Burden due to various risk factors is described for England using new GBD methodology to estimate independent and overlapping attributable risk for five tiers of behavioural, metabolic, and environmental risk factors. We present results for 306 causes and 2337 sequelae, and 79 risks or risk clusters. FINDINGS: Between 1990 and 2013, life expectancy from birth in England increased by 5·4 years (95% uncertainty interval 5·0-5·8) from 75·9 years (75·9-76·0) to 81·3 years (80·9-81·7); gains were greater for men than for women. Rates of age-standardised YLLs reduced by 41·1% (38·3-43·6), whereas DALYs were reduced by 23·8% (20·9-27·1), and YLDs by 1·4% (0·1-2·8). For these measures, England ranked better than the UK and the EU15+ means. Between 1990 and 2013, the range in life expectancy among 45 regional deprivation areas remained 8·2 years for men and decreased from 7·2 years in 1990 to 6·9 years in 2013 for women. In 2013, the leading cause of YLLs was ischaemic heart disease, and the leading cause of DALYs was low back and neck pain. Known risk factors accounted for 39·6% (37·7-41·7) of DALYs; leading behavioural risk factors were suboptimal diet (10·8% [9·1-12·7]) and tobacco (10·7% [9·4-12·0]). INTERPRETATION: Health in England is improving although substantial opportunities exist for further reductions in the burden of preventable disease. The gap in mortality rates between men and women has reduced, but marked health inequalities between the least deprived and most deprived areas remain. Declines in mortality have not been matched by similar declines in morbidity, resulting in people living longer with diseases. Health policies must therefore address the causes of ill health as well as those of premature mortality. Systematic action locally and nationally is needed to reduce risk exposures, support healthy behaviours, alleviate the severity of chronic disabling disorders, and mitigate the effects of socioeconomic deprivation. FUNDING: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Public Health England.Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Public Health EnglandThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(15)00195-